IRAQI LETTER is a blog dedicated to news reports and viewpoints of Iraqi democrats and Left activists. It endeavours to cover important events and relevant activities of Iraqi democratic groups inside Iraq and abroad.
IRAQI LETTER hopes to contribute to a better understanding of the current complex and difficult situation in Iraq, and the multifaceted struggle of Iraqi democrats for a free, fully sovereign, unified, democratic and federal Iraq.

Tuesday, 25 August 2015

Mass uprising is shaking up Iraq

Iraq has witnessed over the past few weeks a growing mass protest movement with demonstrations held every Friday since July 31 at Liberation (Tahrir) Square in central Baghdad, as well as eight other major cities. The protests were triggered by severe electricity shortages during an exceptionally hot summer and the death of a young protester in Basra. But they turned into a popular uprising against rampant corruption, the corrupt ruling elite and its anti-democratic sectarian-ethnic power-sharing system that has been in place over the last 12 years, since the invasion and occupation of Iraq which led to the fall of Saddam's dictatorship.

"Lebanonization" of Iraq

The popular uprising may seem spontaneous but it is actually a result of the accumulation of tragic consequences of successive crises produced by the sectarian-ethnic power-sharing setup implemented by the U.S. occupation authorities - leading to a general crisis engulfing all aspects of life. U.S. occupation chiefs set up a governance system based solely and divisively on religion and ethnicity. The sectarian-ethnic power-sharing system in Iraqensures power distribution in the state according to sectarian (Shia and Sunni) and ethnic (Kurdish) affiliation, rather than considering Iraqis as equal citizens irrespective of their sectarian and ethnic affiliation (as would be the case in a democratic civil state).

This is similar to the Lebanon-style sectarian formula which plunged Lebanon into civil war (thus the term "Lebanonization"). In Iraq too this system exasperated sectarian tensions, resulting in sectarian war during the period 2006-2007, and has pushed Iraq to the brink of division along sectarian-ethnic lines.

Islamic parties therefore compete to monopolize leading posts in government in accordance with this formula. These parties falsely claim to represent the so-called "constituents" of an Iraqi society which is reduced to Shia, Sunni and Kurds, glossing over the country's social structure (and class divisions). In order to maintain their hegemony and monopoly of political power, these parties agitate and stir up sectarian divisions to serve their political agenda.

Rampant corruption and paralysis

This flawed power-sharing system is one of the main causes for the rampant corruption and cover-up scandals through deals between the big political blocs.

The sectarian-ethnic power-sharing system has also led to the paralysis of the parliament and the lack of independence of the judiciary. This is why reforming the judiciary is currently one of the main demands of the protest movement.

The struggle among the ruling groups over power and wealth has been intensifying, even inside each political bloc. Deep divisions, for example, continue to plague the "National Alliance" which groups Islamic Shia parties. Even the Kurdistan bloc has not been spared such inner conflicts, as recent developments in the federal region of Iraqi Kurdistan testify. As a result, the pace of implementing the "Political Agreement," which was the basis for the formation in September 2014 of the current government led by Haider al-Abadi, has been slow, failing to carry through important legislative measures.

Meanwhile, the living conditions of the people have continued to deteriorate, with the miserable failure of the state to provide basic services especially electricity, in addition to the worsening security situation, as a result of rampant corruption in all state institutions.

The ISIS factor

One of the most important factors that contributed to deepening the crisis and intensifying the suffering of the people is the ferocious the war against ISIS (also known by its Arab acronym "Daesh"), since the fall of the city of Mosul on June 10, 2014, and the subsequent loss of government control over one-third of Iraq's territory. It was a result of the collapse of a military and security institution that was built on a sectarian basis and suffered corruption and mismanagement. Although some significant gains were made against ISIS in Diyala and Salah-al-Din provinces, the fall of the city of Ramadi, the capital of Al-Anbar province, west of Baghdad, in May 2015 has revealed that the lessons of Mosul have not been properly drawn.

Poverty growing, wealth for a few

The political crisis was further aggravated by the worsening economic situation after the recent sharp fall in oil prices, leading to the fall of Iraq's oil revenues by half. The existence of more than 3 million internally displaced people, as a result of the war with ISIS, has also created an enormous humanitarian and economic problem that exceeds the capabilities of the state. All this has led to an increase in the proportion of people under the poverty line to over 30% of the population. Meanwhile, a small social stratum of parasitic nature and a corrupt political elite have continued to accumulate enormous wealth and enjoy extravagant privileges.

All these factors confirm once again the conclusion highlighted by the Iraqi Communist Party that the existing political system, based on sectarian-ethnic power-sharing, cannot tackle the fundamental problems facing the people and country, or achieve decisive victories on the military and security front.

The mass protest movement

This situation resulted in growing popular resentment and big protests all over Iraq during recent months. The most outstanding example has been the continuing protest movement, since November 2014, of tens of thousands of workers in the so-called "self-financing" companies of the Ministry of Industry demanding the payment of their wages and resisting privatization plans.

The recent mass demonstrations which erupted against corruption, lack of electricity and basic services, and have continued in recent weeks, should therefore be viewed and analyzed against this political, social and economic background.

The ongoing peaceful protest movement, with demonstrations every Friday in Tahrir Square in Baghdad and other major cities, has a dominant civil and democratic character. It has now attracted hundreds of thousands of people, with a significant participation of youth and women, and from various social strata. The government headed by Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi has so far responded positively to the demands of the demonstrations, announcing a number of reforms and promising some more. These reforms have so far included abolishing three vice presidential positions as well as two posts of deputy prime minister. This meant that Vice President Nouri al-Maliki, who is Abadi's predecessor and main rival, lost his position. Maliki is still the leader of the Da'wah party, a major Shia Islamic party, while Abadi is a member of its political bureau. Other reforms have included reducing the size of his government by a third.

Some victories, but the people want and need more

Abadi's decision to abolish the three vice presidential positions and the two deputy prime minister posts was an important step against the harmful power-sharing system. But far more radical changes and legislation are needed to destabilize the foundations of this system and put an end to it. It is a big challenge. Just to give an example, Maliki is still holding on to his position as vice-president despite the elimination of his post and the parliament's endorsement of Abadi's decision!

If the reforms begin to seriously undermine the power-sharing system, it is expected that the ruling groups (Shia, Sunni and Kurdish) will begin to bury their divisions and unite to preserve their positions in power and privileges. There are already signs of this process beginning.

Iran is also trying to rebuild unity among the major Shia Islamic groups, with the aim of maintaining the cohesion of the Shia alliance and its dominant position in power.

But the demonstrations are pressing for the speedy implementation of these reforms and voicing more demands, including the reform of the judiciary, combating corruption and demanding that those responsible for squandering public money be brought to justice. The momentum of the protests has recently extended to targeting local governments in central and southern provinces, including Basra in the south, demanding the dismissal of several governors and abolishing provincial and municipal councils.

These important developments prove that when the people act in unity, in word and deed, they turn into a powerful force that compels the rulers to comply with their legitimate demands. The parliament was forced to endorse Abadi's proposed first batch of reforms without any debate, and even presented its own additional list of reforms!

The Iraqi Communist Party has declared its full support for the mass protest movement and its demands. It welcomed Abadi's decisions and called for effective measures to turn the promises into real action and to rid the bodies that are charged with implementing the reforms of corruption and incompetence. It voiced its support for the demand of reforming the judiciary. In addition, it has stressed the need for popular oversight, through the participation of representatives of the demonstrations and civil society in the new bodies that are responsible for implementing the reforms. This is essential to monitor implementation and expose those who attempt to impede or obstruct the reforms.

On August 7, when the second big demonstration took place in Tahrir Square in Baghdad, the top Shia cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani announced his support for the demands of the demonstrators and called on Prime Minister Abadi to take firm measures against corruption and corrupt politicians. Sistani's position has so far helped to shield Abadi against his critics and opponents within the Islamic Shia political camp and also against external pressures.

Counterattack

It is now clear that the growing peaceful protest movement is being targeted by political forces that are hostile to the popular demands as well as the civil and democratic character of the demonstrations. During the third massive demonstration in Baghdad's Tahrir Square on August 14, an organized group of thugs armed with knives attacked young protesters. The attack was repulsed but a few people were injured, including a young female activist. In recent days, armed groups have attacked peaceful protesters who had camped out in front of the offices of the provincial government in the cities of Basra and Hilla in southern Iraq.

Prime Minister Abadi has given assurances that the security forces are committed to ensuring the safety of demonstrators and enabling them to exercise their constitutional right to free expression and peaceful protest. However, judging by previous experiences, including attacks on the mass protest movement in February 2011 during the reign of former Prime Minister Maliki, such assurances are not enough.

Achieving the aims of the popular protest movement, and determining how radical the reform measures are, will depend on the unity of the forces participating in the movement and their ability to consolidate it. This is crucial for deterring hostile forces and also resisting external and foreign interference that aims at sabotaging the protests or diverting them away from their objectives. In this respect, it will also be very important to exercise utmost vigilance against attempts to stir up sectarian strife.

Iraq at a crucial turning point

The continuing mass protests have demonstrated once again the tremendous potential for changing the balance of political and societal forces through building a mass popular movement. Only through this change can the root cause of the crisis be tackled, by getting rid of the sectarian-ethnic power-sharing system and laying the foundations of a civil democratic state and social justice.

14 August 2015 – The United Nations human rights office has welcomed the Government of Iraq's response to mass protests against corruption and social inequality which crippled the country's capital earlier this month.Addressing a press briefing in Geneva this morning, Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), lauded the Government's adoption of a reform package aimed at advancing “concrete steps” to reinforce the rule of law, improve governance and respect for human rights.According to reports, several thousand people protested against rampant government corruption, social inequality, poor social services and lack of accountability for officials in a series of recent demonstrations that swept across the Iraqi capital of Baghdad and other cities.“We are encouraged by these reforms and we call on the authorities to ensure that human rights are at the core of implementation,” Ms. Shamdasani told reporters. “We continue to follow developments and our office stands ready to continue supporting efforts to this end.”

Tuesday, 11 August 2015

Iraqi Communist Party
statement about the decisions taken by the Iraqi government in response to mass
protests against corruption

Iraqi Communist Party:A Positive
Step which must be Consolidated and Completed

The Political Bureau of the Iraqi Communist Party issued the following statement
on 9 August 2015 with regard to the decisions announced by the Council of
Ministers headedby Haider al-Abadi in
response to the growing mass protests in Baghdad and 8 other provinces against
rampant corruption and lack of electricity and basic services:

The Council of Ministers announced today a number of decisions that deserve
to be welcomed. They come in response to the wishes of millions of Iraqis and
reflect an interaction with the protest demonstrations that swept Iraq's cities
and involved hundreds of thousands of our people, demanding the provision of
services, exposure of corruption, holding to account the corrupt, condemnation
of mismanagement and power-sharing, and consolidating the confrontation of terrorism.

The decisions that relate to austerity measures are aimed at putting an end
to the illegal privileges, cutting costs, reducing allocations and salaries of
senior government officials, eliminating posts that are based on favoritism, reducing
the security detail of senior officials and directing the surplus to strengthen
the forces of the defense and interior ministries, re-opening the cases of
corruption and speeding up bringing the corrupt to account, and retrieving
public funds from those who stole them. All this represents a sound beginning.
In order for this beginning to be fruitful and be realized on the ground, and not
remain only promises and pledges as many previous similar measures have been,
the following is required:

- Complementing the stated decisions by taking additional measures that
would turn this first step into a steadfast and firm orientation that includes
all aspects of the state and society. These should extend to including the
protection of the country's economy from the parasitic mafias inside state
institutions and outside, which are an extension and an ally of the bureaucracy
of government officials and its administrative organs, who have amassed
billions by looting, manipulation and deceit, and through bribes, mediation, “commissions”,
in business transactions, contracts, financial and banking business and in suspicious
trade.

- Developing effective mechanisms and the creation of a healthy atmosphere so
that these measures make their way to speedy implementation and without delay. This
will deprive evil elements the opportunity to obstruct and circumvent them and
empty them of their real content. This requires appointing efficient, fair and
professional bodies for oversight and implementation in order to get the job
done efficiently and on time.

- Reliance on popular will to support every positive step, in order to
paralyze the will of the obstructionists among parasitic elements, the
merchants of pain and wars, profiteering thieves, the hypocrites of opportunistic
politicians and allies of mafias. This should be the starting point for
supporting the national armed forces with all its formations in confronting
terrorism and Daesh (ISIS).

- Adopting a political approach that is consistent with the magnitude of the
process of true reform and its importance and difficulty. This is summarized in
destabilizing the sectarian-ethnic power-sharing system and putting an end to
it, along with the misleading plans produced by it that ensure the distribution
of the spoils among its beneficiaries, rather than weakening and getting rid of
it (such as the so-called “balancing” measures, the monopoly of governmental
posts, special exceptions .. etc.).

- Urging the Parliament to finish the legislation of all the urgent laws,
and activating the ones that are suspended (the Service Law, the Social Security
Law, the laws contained in the Political Document [that was the basis for the
formation of Abadi’s government], amending the Election Law, legislation of the
Parties Law.. etc.). This will provide a favorable legislative climate to pave
the way for the process of change and reform, paralyze any effort or attempt to
put obstacles in front of this urgent need through contrived complexities and
worn-out disputes that have so far played a role in blocking any reform effort and
serving the interests of the protectors of corruption and the corrupt.

The eyes of our people, men and women, old and young, of all ethnicities,
religions and sects, and with different intellectual and political orientations,
will remain open. Their presence in the squares, the arenas for the expression
of the legitimate demands, will continue in support of all the positive
measures and in backing for all the goodwill efforts that are aimed at putting
Iraq on the path of true democracy and social justice, to defeat terrorism and
corruption, so as to ensure security, stability, a dignified life and decent standard
of living and of services, and remove all impediments to joining mankind’s
civilized march, and building their own federal, independent and sovereign
civil democratic state.